Exchange Bitcoin (BTC) to Litecoin (LTC)

Bitcoin (BTC)

Bitcoin was first introduced in a whitepaper published by a person (or group of people) known as Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008. It was the first decentralized cryptocurrency, meaning it operates without a central authority such as a government or financial institution. In 2009, the Bitcoin network was officially launched, allowing people to send and receive payments using bitcoins as a form of digital currency.

One of the key features of Bitcoin is its use of blockchain technology, which is a secure and transparent way of recording transactions. The blockchain is essentially a public ledger that contains all the transaction history of each bitcoin, allowing for greater accountability and security. Bitcoin transactions are verified by a network of computers (also known as miners) that solve complex mathematical puzzles to add new blocks to the blockchain.

Bitcoin has gained popularity as a digital currency for various reasons, including its decentralized nature and the fact that it can be used for international payments without the need for exchange rates. It has also become a popular investment asset, with many people buying and holding BTC as a store of value. As the first cryptocurrency, it is likely to remain a prominent player and is often considered to be 'digital gold' by investors.

Litecoin (LTC)

Litecoin is one of the most recognized names in the world of cryptocurrency, having been created in 2011 by Charlie Lee, an MIT graduate, and former Google engineer. It was built on the foundational principles of Bitcoin but aimed to improve upon its design. Charlie Lee was inspired by Bitcoin and noticed its potential but also saw its limitations. He wanted to create a faster, more efficient version—hence, Litecoin was born.

Lee designed Litecoin to generate blocks every 2.5 minutes, compared to Bitcoin's 10 minutes. This means transactions can be confirmed quicker, making Litecoin a more practical option for small-scale transactions. This means significantly lower fees and faster transaction times when compared with Bitcoin. Furthermore, Litecoin's proof-of-work algorithm, called Scrypt, is different from Bitcoin’s SHA-256. Scrypt allows for different mining abilities, paving the way for more miners.

Today, Litecoin is now the most transacted cryptocurrency on most major payment platforms, such as BitPay, where it accounts for over 35% of all transactions, compared with around 22% for Bitcoin, the second most popular payment method. The Litecoin protocol states that there can only ever be a maximum of 84 million Litecoin, while Bitcoin has a maximum supply of 21 million.